Water Dragon eye gunk help

[LouieH1993]

Hey everyone, Today I noticed my 4 month old Water dragon has had its eyes closed for about a week, at first I thought it developed some new type of defensive tactic by shutting its eyes when I’m around, but then I noticed the crust on its left eye.

I wiped away big chunks of coco fiber from the left eye and now it’s finally opening its eyes! But it has a weird white gunkish film around the pupil, any ideas on how to remove it? Or if it would get better? The help would be greatly appreciated, I’ll post a picture below.

[chairman]

The eye problem is probably due to a problem with the dragon's enclosure. The short term solution would be to get some terramycin ophthalmic ointment and treat the eye with it. I had a wild caught tortoise with an eye issue years ago and the terramycin cleared it up fairly quickly.

Water dragons are semi-arboreal and semi-aquatic. They prefer to hang out on branches, rocks, etc either above water or on the bank of a body of water. When they get spooked they jump into the water much like a slider turtle. Failing to replicate this environment can cause issues for a water dragon. My guess is that you've got a terrestrial cage with a "good size" water bowl, which isn't enough water. Or, possibly, you're using a CFL/coil style UVB bulb, which used to cause conjunctivitus in reptiles (haven't heard whether they've worked those kinks out on production issues or not).

Lizards generally require an enclosure whose dimensions are 1.5 x body length by 3 x body length. For a Chinese water dragon that should reach around 3 feet in length, you're looking at a 4.5' x 9' enclosure.

The standard enclosure recommendation would be 4' x 8'. The smallest enclosure that I've heard of being safely used is 2' x 3' x 3', though this is a very small footprint for a dragon. I'd go at least 2' x 4', bigger if you can.

Height is very important. You're going to want at least 6" of water in the bottom of the enclosure, with a preferred depth to around 12". You'll want a small land area with a nesting spot (if you have a female) and then multiple levels of shelves, hammocks, vines, branches, etc for the dragon. One or more of the branches should have a good basking spot with UVB. In order to arrange water, shelves, basking spots, etc, you'll want at least a 3' tall enclosure, with up to 4' tall making life a lot easier.

For the water, you're going to need a good filtration setup. I would recommend a combination of aquatic plants (floating plants, water lilies, and even plants like pothos or peace lilies that can be grown in water instead of soil), snails, ghost shrimp, and standard aquarium filtration. An external canister filter would work but you may want to opt for a sump tank to handle the bio-load of a large lizard. I would not add any fish to the aquarium, they would just add waste that you need to filter.

How you go about doing all this is up to you. I've seen people buy 100 to 300 gallon stock tanks and build wooden tops to accommodate branches and lights. I've seen wooden enclosures with fish aquariums like 40 breeders or 55 gallon tanks for the water area set inside the enclosure, with the area around the tank filled in with dirt and plants. You could, in theory, put two 55 gallon aquariums (one dirt, one water) next to each other to create a 26" x 48" base for which you build a top.

Whatever you do, remember that it is going to involve an aquarium, so make sure you make it easy on yourself to do water changes. It is also going to involve hanging electric heat sources above water, so make sure you've got a GFI outlet and secure those fixtures VERY well to prevent accidents. Also, water weighs 8 pounds per gallon and soil is up to 200 lbs per cubic foot (the enclosure should weigh around 1500 lbs), so either put the thing on industrial casters or make sure it is in a spot where you'll never want to move it.

If it were me then I'd be tempted to either build a wooden enclosure that uses a 55 gallon + aquarium as the lower front wall (so I can see the water portion) or I'd use a stock tank and build a top for it. The stock tank route will probably be cheaper and easier but less aesthetically pleasing.

I'm not sure how large your dragon currently is but you're probably thinking that building a massive cage for a small lizard isn't necessary. However, given the cost associated with building the adult cage, you're better off just building a suitable cage now and letting the lizard grow in to it. Lettting it live in too large a space isn't going to harm the lizard.